On Sunday, April 26th Improv Prague founder Tim Bürgi gave a presentation on “Improv and the Mind” as a part of the 5 Minute University lecture series.
He touched on the research of Charles Limb, which showed through fmri scan of Jazz musicians that the Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, believed to be responsible for self-monitoring, shuts down during improvisation, and the Medial prefrontal cortex, assoicated with self-expression, increases in activity.
For more information on this study, see Charles Limb’s TEDtalk.
The presentation also noted that over a quarter of Keith Johnstone’s foundational text on improvisational Theatre, Impro, is dedicated to masks and trance states, yet few people who talk an improv course are aware of it. Accessing trance states, through religious rituals orby other means, were a common part of human experience throughout many cultures, but are entirely absent from many people’s lives today. There can be benefits to trance states, such as increased bonding and reduced anxiety, and improv is a way of accessing them.